N001433
Monday, January 07, 2002 8:01 PM
Letter to Dept. of Justice
January 7, 2002
Kenneth L. Wick, Director
Office of Management Programs
U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Division
Main Building, Room 3140
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530
RE: Victim Compensation Fund
Dear Mr. Zwick:
My husband and I lost our son in the World Trade Center attack on Sept 11, 2001, and our other son lost his only sibling and best friend. We will live with this horror for the rest of our lives.
As parents who have suffered a tremendous loss, the government is not recognizing us. This is true at many levels. In soliciting suggestions for memorials that will be erected at Ground Zero and at Liberty State Park, our opinions will not be solicited because they don't know who we are. When information is provided to next of kin that would also be meaningful to parents, we are not informed because they don't know who we are. When the media shares life stories with the public, we are not asked to share our stories. Because most of the victims were so young, many also left behind grandparents and in some cases great grandparents. Its almost as if these young men and women were born, married, and died with no family life in between. This is all because there is no list of parents, except in cases where the victim was not married.
It is evident that even fiancés are considered more important than the victims' immediate family members.
While we truly believe that most of the compensation should go to the spouses and children, as the law stands now we have no rights as parents to receive compensation for our horrific pain and suffering.
No one, except other parents who have lost a child in this horrific way can truly understand the pain and suffering that we are going through. Our pain is devastating and will last a lifetime. Our son can never be replaced, but will always be remembered.
A Parents' Pain and Suffering should be part of the fund's regulation also. More than monetarily, it will acknowledge that we do exist and that we are suffering too.
Thank you,
Sincerely yours,
Individual Comment